Interactive Constitution

Full text of the U.S. Constitution with essays by leading scholars.

The free Interactive Constitution app presents the full text of the U.S. Constitution and features essays by leading scholars that detail areas of agreement and disagreement across a range of philosophical and legal perspectives. Created by the National Constitution Center in partnership with the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society, this nonpartisan resource is featured by the College Board in its Advanced Placement history and government courses. The Interactive Constitution was made possible by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

To use the Interactive Constitution, just hit the "Explore It" button on its opening screen. Then you can:

Select the "Articles" and "Amendments" tabs on the next screen to read the part of the Constitution that interests you.

For the first 15 Amendments, you can read the annotated text of each amendment, along with "Common Interpretations" - joint statements by leading scholars detailing areas of agreement - and "Matters of Debate," individual statements by those same scholars detailing discussing areas of disagreement, along with the annotated text of each amendment.

For Amendments 16-27, you can read the full annotated text, plus interpretations from the Annenberg Classroom, a national leader in resources for civic education.

For the Articles I-VII of the U.S. Constitution, you can read the full text of each article by sections, with annotations from some of the nation’s leading scholars and from the Annenberg Classroom.

The "About The Constitution" section contains a series of white papers that provide overarching background on the Constitution, its history, and how it should be interpreted and applied.